Side cutaway view of the worm steering gear assembly. The steering arm is at the bottom; the
arm moves horizontally. The standard drag link is used but with the ball socket turned upward.

The assembly was factory number T-983, T-4128, or T-5010, depending on the year used.

Top View of the worm steering gear. Note the position of the steering arm which moves
in a near horizontal plane instead of the normal near vertical plane.

The teeth on the sector gear are not shown. The sector gear cover was held with three screws which were
locked with a retaining wire as shown.

The top of the steering column for the worm steering gear. The illustration shows the early
style gear case and steering wheel. Note that there are no gears in the top
case; the steering shaft (T-500B) is solid from the steering wheel to the worm gear
assembly on the frame. The steering column and gear case under the steering wheel are the same
as the standard units.

Over the years in our research at the Ford Archives, and in literature we have collected, we have found
many references to "worm steering gear." The factory numbers were, for the most part, in the
T-900's but we could find no reference to part numbers, nor to what or when this type of steering gear
might have been used. We presumed these were just "experimental." Worm-gear steering on the
Model T? It really happened, and not for an experiment either.

The first design of this system appeared in 1910, and specified for 1911 cars. Modifications were made at
least until 1920, according to the original blueprints from which these illustrations are copied.
The initial design had a ratio of 5:1 but within the first year this was changed to 7:1, perhaps to
reduce the tendency for the wheels to effect the steering wheel when some obstruction was met on the road.
Factory shipping records indicate that a Town Car, serial number 48,955, which had "worm steering
gear" noted on the record, was shipped to Germany on April 21, 1911. Perhaps this type of
steering gear was required in Germany.

Cars shipped to Germany apparently also had to be supplied with rear wheel brakes which could be operated
by the foot pedal. Ford made a cable setup which connected the pedal to the rear brakes just for the German
market.

Following are a few notes found at the Ford Archives regarding the worm steering gear. These are not
necessarily all the notes on file; just the ones we noted.

DEC 15, 1910 Acc. 575
T-972 worm, and T-973 sector steering parts. Blueprints indicate that these parts were never
used but the worm gear assembly apparently was used until at least the early 1920's. Probably the part
numbers were changed; we do know that the original sector gear was just a sector but that it was
replaced with a full round gear 1911. The left-hand engine pan (T-2367) was also designed for this
type steering.

MAR 16, 1911 (Factory Letter 284)
T-991 "Changed name from steering worm sector to steering worm wheel. Have also specified this
piece to be a complete wheel instead of only a sector, thereby allowing the wheel to be turned around
from one side to the other as the teeth become worn out. This will allow one piece to be used twice
as long as before."

BRAKE CABLES ON THE MODEL T

As with the worm steering gear, numerous references were found to brake cables. It seems that those
cars shipped to Germany were equipped with cables to the rear brakes instead of the usual brake rods.
The rear brake arm clevis was designed to accept and clamp to the cable. It was designed to fit the
standard brake arm and was angled so that the cable had a direct pull to the front brake lever arm.
The clevis at the front brake arms had pulleys. Since the records show only one cable per car, we
presume the cable passed over this pulley and across the frame to the other pulley and then back to
the opposite rear wheel. Such an arrangement would tend to equalize the brake action.
On the other hand, the records indicate there were four cable clamps required per car. Did they use
two clamps at each end, or was the cable arranged so that instead of crossing the chassis, as above,
it went through the front pulley and then back to some point on the chassis where it was anchored?
This would give a mechanical advantage of two-to-one. (We presume the cable, listed as fourteen feet
long, would have been cut into two pieces.) Perhaps the Germans required a more effective rear brake
than the standard arrangement provided.